Benefits
Perceived stress scores in stressed adults
In 126 stressed but healthy adults, one capsule a day for 60 days lowered Perceived Stress Scale scores from about 22 to 13 on 300 mg and on 150 mg, versus 22 to 19 on placebo, the trial's primary outcome. In an earlier 90 day trial, stress scores were 13.0 versus 18.7 on placebo, a secondary outcome. Both trials were maker-funded.
Visual memory on a computerized test battery
In 125 stressed adults aged 20 to 55, 300 mg a day for 90 days gave higher first-attempt scores and fewer errors than placebo on a pattern-location memory task, partly because errors rose on placebo, and one attention score was higher. Reaction time, spatial working memory and most attention scores did not differ, and blood BDNF did not change. This single trial was maker-funded.
Self-rated sleep quality in stressed adults
Sleep was a secondary questionnaire outcome in both stress trials, whose participants were not chosen for poor sleep. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index scores improved more than on placebo, to 2.5 versus 4.0 at 90 days in one trial and 4.5 on 300 mg versus 7.6 at 60 days in the other, where the placebo group started with better scores. Sleep was not measured objectively.
Bench press strength and treadmill fitness during training
In 83 gym-going adults new to strength training, 300 mg a day for 90 days with a supervised program raised estimated bench press strength, the primary outcome, by 15.3 versus 7.3 kg on placebo, and estimated VO2 max more than placebo. Both were calculated by formula from repetitions to failure or treadmill time, gains in both groups were unusually large, and this single trial was designed and written up by the maker.
Well-being and eating behavior questionnaires
As secondary outcomes, happiness questionnaire scores rose more than on placebo in the 90 day trial and on 300 mg in the 60 day trial, where 150 mg did not differ at day 60. Uncontrolled and emotional eating scores fell more than on placebo at both doses, and quality of life scores rose more in the training trial. All are self-ratings.
Cortisol and testosterone blood markers
Morning serum cortisol was lower than placebo after 90 days in one trial, though it also fell on placebo; in the 60 day trial it fell within the 300 mg group, with no comparison to placebo reported. In the training trial, total and free testosterone changes did not differ from placebo. These are markers, not health outcomes.
Mechanism of action
Sustained-release capsule design
The maker describes a microbead matrix that releases the extract gradually, and the trial authors report testing the release profile by dissolution. In a single-dose study in 14 men run by the maker's group, plasma withanolide exposure was higher and lasted longer than with a standard extract capsule. These are blood level markers, not health outcomes.
Stress-hormone (HPA) axis
Ashwagandha is thought to act on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the body's main stress-hormone system. In one trial of this extract, morning cortisol was lower than placebo after 90 days, which fits this idea, but the pathway itself was not measured.
Inflammatory signaling in laboratory and animal work
In human immune cell lines, the extract lowered TNF-alpha, IL-1beta and superoxide production in a dose-dependent way, and in rats under chronic unpredictable stress it improved maze-based anxiety and memory tests. This laboratory and animal work, by the maker's group, has not been measured in people.
Clinical trials
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel trial at two centers in Karnataka, India (December 2019 to May 2020); one 300 mg Prolanza capsule or a look-alike placebo daily after breakfast for 90 days; primary outcome change in cognitive function on the CANTAB battery, with stress, cortisol, sleep, happiness and BDNF as secondary outcomes; registered CTRI/2019/11/021990 with the same primary outcome; funded by Inventia Healthcare and Laila Nutraceuticals; Shefali Thanawala is an Inventia Healthcare employee, one author is a Laila employee and two are employees of the contract research organization (Gopukumar et al. 2021, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med)
130 healthy, cognitively normal adults aged 20 to 55 with Perceived Stress Scale scores of 14 to 24 (65 per group); 125 completed and were analyzed.
On the primary battery, the extract group scored higher than placebo on first-attempt memory in the paired associates learning task (12.9 versus 10.1) and made fewer total errors (17.5 versus 27.7, p < 0.05 for each; errors fell only slightly and not significantly on the extract, from 20.4, and rose on placebo, from 21.5), and one attention score (RVP A prime) was higher; reaction time, motor screening, spatial working memory and other attention measures did not differ. Secondary outcomes favored the extract: stress scores 13.0 versus 18.7 (p < 0.0001), cortisol 6.34 versus 7.38 ug/dL (p = 0.0443; it also fell on placebo), and sleep and happiness scores (p < 0.0001); BDNF did not differ (p = 0.74). No adverse events were reported, and liver and kidney tests showed no abnormal changes.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, three-arm parallel trial at two Bangalore sites (recruitment June to October 2023); one 150 mg or 300 mg AshwaSR (Prolanza/Ashwanova) capsule or placebo daily after breakfast for 60 days; primary outcome change in Perceived Stress Scale score versus placebo; registered CTRI/2023/06/053662; funded by Nutriventia and Laila Nutra; Shefali Thanawala and Rajat Shah are Nutriventia employees, two authors are Laila Nutra employees and two are employees of the contract research organization (Thanawala et al. 2026, Medicine (Baltimore))
135 healthy adults aged 20 to 55 with Perceived Stress Scale scores of 14 to 26 (mean age 35, 53 percent men); 126 completed and were analyzed (41 on 150 mg, 44 on 300 mg, 41 on placebo).
Stress scores, the primary outcome, fell from 22.57 to 13.18 on 300 mg and from 21.61 to 13.27 on 150 mg versus 21.61 to 18.54 on placebo, a significant difference from day 15 on 300 mg and day 30 on 150 mg. Sleep quality and eating behavior scores improved more than on placebo at both doses; happiness scores improved more on 300 mg but not significantly on 150 mg at day 60. Serum cortisol fell within the 300 mg group only (7.83 to 6.33), and no comparison with placebo was reported. Serum testosterone in men, a registered secondary outcome, was not reported. Five mild adverse events (three on 150 mg, one on 300 mg, one on placebo) were judged unrelated.
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel trial at one Bangalore hospital (April to November 2025); one 300 mg AshwaSR (Ashwanova, formerly Prolanza) capsule or microcrystalline cellulose placebo daily for 90 days alongside a supervised 5 day a week resistance and aerobic program; primary outcome change in bench press one-repetition maximum, estimated with the Epley formula; registered CTRI/2025/04/084383; funded by Nutriventia (the registry also lists Laila Nutraceuticals as a funder), which was involved in study design, writing and the decision to publish; Shefali Thanawala, Rajat Shah (with ownership interests) and Alphy Lopes are Nutriventia employees, and two authors are contract research organization employees paid consulting fees by Nutriventia (Thanawala et al. 2026, Front Nutr)
84 healthy, recreationally active adults aged 25 to 50 with a body mass index of 25 to 29.9, in their first month of strength training (42 per group); 83 completed (53 men, 30 women).
Estimated bench press strength rose 15.31 versus 7.33 kg on placebo by day 91 (adjusted difference 8.03 kg, p < 0.001), and VO2 max estimated from treadmill time rose 30.56 versus 18.14 mL/kg/min (adjusted difference 12.62). The within-group rises were unusually large for 13 weeks (260 and 145 percent on the extract, 119 and 89 percent on placebo). Creatine kinase and LDH did not differ, total and free testosterone changes did not differ from placebo in men, and in women total testosterone rose more on placebo. Quality of life scores improved more than on placebo. Adverse events were mild (6 on the extract, 10 on placebo).
Open-label, randomized, two-period crossover, single-dose pharmacokinetic study under fasting conditions; two Prolanza 300 mg capsules (15 mg withanolides each) versus two KSM-66 capsules (15 mg withanolides each); a CTRI registration was applied for retrospectively (application reference REF/2020/03/032408); authors from Laila Nutraceuticals, Inventia Healthcare and Enem Nostrum; not indexed in PubMed (Alluri et al. 2021, Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol)
14 healthy adult men.
The authors report relative bioavailability about 12 times higher for total withanolides, 44 times for withanolide A and 11 times for 12-deoxywithastramonolide, with a longer elimination half-life, which they describe as a sustained-release profile. No adverse events were reported. These are blood level markers after one dose in a small maker-linked study, not health outcomes.